U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,258 describes a spike used to puncture the closure of a medical liquid container. Because these spikes are relatively large; i.e., approximately 1/2 inch in diameter, considerable axial force is needed to make the puncture. It should be recognized that the large diameter spikes, which are sold sterile and disposed of after a single use, are generally made of a thermoplastic material because of economics. Because of the spike's complexity, they cannot be conveniently made out of steel with precision ground, extremely sharp puncture tips.
Because of the very large axial force needed to initiate the puncture, the operator sometimes rotationally wiggles or twists the spike while applying axial pressure to initiate the puncture. This in effect helps to provide a slight boring effect with the spike. Because of this combined axial force and rotational force, the handle is very important in manipulating these large diameter spikes. In the past, transverse flat flanges such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,258, provided a sufficient ledge to push against, but were sometimes uncomfortable to the thumb and finger of the operator. U.S. Pat. No. 2,416,391 describes another type of medical liquid bottle spike with an inverted bell-shaped filter housing. If this housing 29 were used as the axial pressure handle, its circular dimensions would not provide a good grip for rotating the spike during puncture. The thumb and forefinger could easily slip off the inverted bell-shaped housing 29.